OAR 437-001-0057: Scheduling Inspections

The following rules are intended to predominantly focus enforcement activities on the places of employment that the director reasonably believes to be the most unsafe. (1) Except for Programmed Inspections for Cause, the Division will schedule programmed inspections according to a priority system based on written neutral administrative standards. (2) The Division will identify the most hazardous industries and places of employment through information obtained from the Department of Consumer and Business Services claim and employer files, the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Injury and Illness Survey, the Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, the Oregon Employment Department, and knowledge of recognized safety and health hazards associated with certain processes. Health hazards include carcinogens, lead, silica, toxic metals and fumes, vapors or gases, toxic or highly corrosive liquids or chemicals, chemical sensitizers, pesticides, fungicides, solvents, harmful physical stress agents, and biological agents. (3) Scheduling lists will be provided by the Division to its field offices, at least annually. (a) Except for Programmed Inspections for Cause, an employer will be exempt from any scheduled inspection generated by a list for a fixed site from seven days prior to the scheduled date of an Oregon OSHA consultation to 60 days after receipt of the written consultation report. (b) Except for Programmed Inspections for Cause, an employer will be exempt from any scheduled inspection generated by a list for a construction, forest activities, or Agriculture Labor Housing site from seven days prior to the scheduled date of an Oregon OSHA consultation to 30 days after receipt of the written consultation report. (4) Scheduling Safety Inspections for Fixed Places of Employment. (a) The scheduling lists are compiled, using an electronic scheduling system, for safety enforcement managers to schedule inspections at fixed places of employment for each compliance officer. Written neutral administrative standards (the seven criteria listed below) are standardized using a statistical weighting method involving t-scores. These weighted scores are averaged across the seven criteria to create a composite score. This composite score is used to determine the position of each industry (using the 4-digit NAICS code) on the list from most to least hazardous, see Table 1. Lists are divided into 10 tiers. Places of employment are randomly selected for inspection within each tier using the following percentages whenever a list is generated. The percentages will not be affected by the places of employment excluded in (4)(b) unless the number of exclusions makes it impossible to meet the target percentage. When that occurs, all remaining eligible places of employment will be selected. The scheduling lists will be sorted by field office. [Insert Table 1] (A) 30 percent of places of employment under the NAICS identified as Tier A. (B) 25 percent of places of employment under the NAICS identified as Tier B. (C) 20 percent of places of employment under the NAICS identified as Tier C. (D) 15 percent of places of employment under the NAICS identified as Tier D. (E) 12.5 percent of places of employment under the NAICS identified as Tier E. (F) 10 percent of places of employment under the NAICS identified as Tier F. (G) 7.5 percent of places of employment under the NAICS identified as Tier G. (H) 5 percent of places of employment under the NAICS identified as Tier H. (I) 2.5 percent of places of employment under the NAICS identified as Tier I. (J) No more than 0.05 percent of places of employment under the NAICS not otherwise identified in Tiers A through I. (b) Except for Programmed Inspections for Cause, places of employment will be exempt from programmed inspections if any of the following conditions apply: (A) A location has received a comprehensive safety inspection within the previous 36 months. (B) A location has received Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) status. (C) A location is in its second year, or later, of the Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP). (D) A location has graduated from the Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP). Locations are exempt from inspection for 36 months after graduation. (E) A location has received two consecutive comprehensive safety inspections with no serious, willful, or egregious violations, and with no inspections of any type resulting in serious, willful, or egregious violations since the date of the first of the two consecutive comprehensive inspections. (F) A location has received certification as meeting the British Standards Institute’s OHSAS 18001 standards (Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems), or the ISO 45001 (International Organization for Standardization) standards. Evidence of certification must be provided before the start of an inspection. (G) A location has a MOD rate of 0.50 and they provide evidence to that effect before the start of an inspection. (c) The field office managers will provide each compliance officer a list of inspections that are assigned in descending order from tiers A through J. The compliance officer will make a reasonable effort to inspect each place of employment on that list prior to receiving another list; however, failure to inspect all places of employment on a list will not invalidate subsequent inspections. The compliance officer’s list will generally be followed in descending order but may be inspected in any order to use the compliance officer’s time efficiently. (5) Scheduling Safety Inspections for Construction and Forest Activities. (a) Construction and forest activities scheduling lists will be used by safety enforcement managers and compliance staff to focus enforcement efforts on employers with the most hazardous places of employment. Employers will be selected and placed on one of two lists based on the following criteria: (A) Construction List — The following written neutral administrative standards will be used to select and rank employers on this list. Construction employers that have one or more accepted disabling claims in the first 12 of the previous 18 months and are ranked in the top 500 construction employers. The employers on this list will be ranked statewide using violation history, weighted claims rate, and weighted claims count as described in subsection (b) of this section. The 500 employers with the most points will be placed on a list. (B) Forest Activities List — The following written neutral administrative standards will be used to select and rank employers on this list. Forest activities employers that have one or more accepted disabling claims in the first 12 of the previous 18 months and are ranked in the top 50 forest activities employers. The employers on this list will be ranked statewide using violation history, weighted claims rate, and weighted claims count as described in subsection (b) of this section. The 50 employers with the most points will be placed on a list. (b) Ranking Factors: Construction and forest activities employers are ranked using violation history, weighted claims rate, and weighted claims count. The rankings from each factor are combined to produce a score for each employer, and the employers are ranked based on their score. The top 500 construction employers will be on one list and the top 50 forest activities employers will be on another list: (A) Violation History - Employers with a violation history will be assigned points for each violation on citations that have become a final order within the previous 36 months. Willful violations are assigned five points, failure to abate violations four points, repeat violations three points, serious violations two points, and other-than-serious violations one point. Average points per citation will be determined with the employer having the most points receiving a ranking of one followed by the employer with the next highest points receiving a ranking of two, etc. Employers not inspected within 36 months are given a ranking of zero, that will put them at the top of this category. (B) Weighted Claims Count - Selected claims from the first 12 of the previous 18 months are assigned points based on the seriousness of the claim. These points are totaled for each employer. Employers are ranked on the total points with the employer having the most points receiving a rank of one, followed by the second highest weighted claims count receiving a ranking of two, etc. (C) Weighted Claims Rate- Employers are ranked in this category with the highest weighted claims rate receiving a ranking of one, followed by the second highest weighted claims rate receiving a ranking of two, etc. The weighted claims count described in (B) above is used to determine the claims rate. Note: The selected claims and the points assigned to the selected claims will be identified by the agency in a program directive. (c) The field office manager will provide selected compliance officers the construction and/or forest activities lists. The compliance officers will make a reasonable effort to locate and inspect those employers on the construction and forest activities lists, however failure to inspect all employers on a list will not invalidate subsequent inspections. (6) Scheduling Health Inspections for Fixed Places of Employment. (a) The scheduling lists are designed as an electronic scheduling system used by health enforcement managers to schedule inspections at fixed places of employment for each compliance officer. Places of employment will be listed by NAICS and randomly selected within each tier using the following percentages whenever a list is generated. The scheduling lists will be sorted by field office. (A) 7.5 percent of places of employment under the NAICS identified as Tier A. (B) 2.5 percent of places of employment under the NAICS identified as Tier B. (C) Not more than 0.05 percent of places of employment under NAICS not identified in Tiers A and B. (b) Except for Programmed Inspections for Cause, places of employment will be exempt from programmed inspections if any of the following conditions apply: (A) A location has received a comprehensive health inspection within the previous 36 months. (B) A location has received Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) status. (C) A location is in its second year, or later, of the Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP). (D) A location has graduated from the Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP). Locations are exempt from inspection for 36 months after graduation. (E) A location has received two consecutive comprehensive health inspections with no serious, willful, or egregious violations, and with no inspections of any type resulting in serious, willful, or egregious violations since the date of the first of the two consecutive comprehensive inspections. (F) A location has received certification as meeting the British Standards Institute’s OHSAS 18001 standards (Occupation Health and Safety Management Systems). Evidence of certification must be provided before the start of an inspection. (G) A location has a MOD rate of 0.50 and they provide evidence to that effect before the start of an inspection. (c) The field office managers will provide each compliance officer a list of inspections that are assigned in descending order from the health scheduling lists. The compliance officer will make a reasonable effort to inspect each place of employment on that list prior to receiving another list; however, failure to inspect all places of employment on a list will not invalidate subsequent inspections. The compliance officer’s list will generally be followed in descending order, but may be inspected in any order to use the compliance officer’s time efficiently. (7) Scheduling Health Inspections for Nonfixed Places of Employment — An inspection may be scheduled when information such as recognized health hazards known to be associated with certain processes are reasonably thought to exist at a place of employment. (8) Programmed Inspection for Cause — A comprehensive inspection at a place of employment will be conducted when any of the following occur. (a) Within one year of the applicable closing conference where: (A) An accident investigation revealed that a violation has caused or contributed to a work-related fatality; (B) Three or more willful violations occur at a place of employment within a 12-month period; or (C) Three or more repeat violations occur at a place of employment within a 12-month period. (b) An employer has a history of non-compliance and the Administrator deems a comprehensive inspection is necessary for the protection of employees. (9) Random Inspections — The Division will conduct random inspections of places of employment that are scheduled and conducted under written neutral administrative standards. Program directives will be issued and changed when the director believes it necessary to preserve the random nature of the inspections. (10) Emphasis Inspections — An inspection may be made if the place of employment is included in a national or local safety or health emphasis program. Emphasis programs are established by identifying the most hazardous industries and processes through information obtained from the Department of Consumer and Business Services claim files, the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Injury and Illness Survey, the Oregon Employment Department, and knowledge of recognized hazards associated with certain processes. Program directives will be issued to establish and describe emphasis programs and the written neutral administrative standards that will be used to schedule the inspections. (11) Farm Labor Housing Inspections — Farm labor housing is a national and local emphasis program. A list of all known farm labor housing locations will be sent to field offices annually. Locations may be selected and inspected in any order to make efficient use of available resources. Housing locations not on the list may also be inspected. Farm labor housing is not an agricultural operation; therefore, the agriculture exemption for employers of 10 or fewer permanent, year-round employees does not apply to farm labor housing inspections. (12) Except for Programmed Inspections for Cause, the Division will annually make reasonable efforts to notify, in writing, each employer whose place of employment is rated as one of the most unsafe places of employment, that there is increased likelihood of inspection of the employer’s place of employment and consultative services are available. (13) Agricultural employers with 10 or fewer permanent, year-round employees, both full-time and part-time, will be subject to scheduled inspections only if any of the following has occurred: (a) A valid complaint has been filed according to ORS 654. 062, or (b) Within the preceding two-year period, an accident at the employer’s agricultural place of employment resulted in death or a serious disabling injury from a violation of the Oregon Safe Employment Act or rules adopted under the Act, or (c) The employer and principal supervisors of the agricultural establishment have not annually completed at least four hours of instruction on agricultural safety or health rules and procedures. This instruction must be documented. (A) Instruction includes any instruction conducted or accepted by Oregon OSHA or instruction related to agricultural safety and health that is offered or approved by any public or private college, university, or governmental agency. The employer must maintain documentation of the instruction. The documentation must include the date, provider, subject, and duration of the instruction, and the signature of the person completing the instruction. Note: Certified Applicator Training Core A and B offered by the Oregon Department of Agriculture will satisfy a portion of the required training. One-hour credit will be allowed annually for this training. (B) For purposes of these sections, the time period begins to run when: (i) the instruction is received; (ii) Within the preceding four-year period, the agricultural establishment has not had a comprehensive consultation by an individual acting in a public or private consultant capacity. For purposes of this section, the time period begins to run when the consultation is received; or (iii) If the consultation was done and the agricultural employer has failed to correct violations noted in the consultation report within 90 days after receiving the report. Note: For purposes of determining the number of employees, members of the agricultural employer’s immediate family are excluded. This includes grandparents, parents, children, step-children, foster children, and any blood relative living as a dependent of the core family. (14) Evaluation of Enforcement Scheduling: (a) Each year Oregon OSHA will complete a summary evaluation of enforcement scheduling, including (but not limited to) the number of scheduled inspections and the basis for those inspections, the number of attempted scheduled inspections that could not be completed, and the results of those inspections. (b) At least every three years beginning by July 1, 2012, Oregon OSHA will assess the enforcement scheduling system and other available data to ensure that the scheduling system continues to accomplish its statutory purpose of predominantly focusing Oregon OSHA enforcement resources on those places of employment reasonably believed to be the most unsafe. Note: See Safety by NAICS, Safety by Tier/Rank, Health by NAICS, to review safety and health scheduling lists of employers identified by NAICS codes and their placement in appropriate tiers. [ED. NOTE: To view attachments referenced in rule text, click here to view rule.]